Fire Lady Wanted
by Cadence
Summary: Mai decides that the Fire Lady's official duties need to be shared, especially the childbearing one. Zuko is not entirely okay with this.


**Title:** Fire Lady Wanted  
**Rating:** PG  
**Pairings/Characters: **Mai/Zuko, Mai/Zuko/Jin, implied Zuko/June  
**Warnings:** swearing and polygamy  
**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to the nice folks at Nickelodeon.

**Summary:** Mai decides that the Fire Lady's official duties need to be shared, especially the childbearing one. Zuko is not entirely okay with this.

**A/N:** Thank you to jin_fenghuang for the beta!

* * *

There aren't a lot of things that Mai hates more than pregnancy, but it seems she's found two. First of all, childbirth. And secondly, Zuko. Possibly that order should be reversed. Katara gets the message, although Zuko does not, when the entire medical tray is sent crashing to the floor by Mai's desperately searching fingers. The sight of broken cherrywood and shattered porcelain does nothing to allay her anger. She rolls back onto her back, panting and sweating, to glare across the room at him and once more curse his foresight to remove all of her knives from her sheaths before taking her over to the midwives.

"Mai, is there anything I can get for you?" Zuko asks softly, coming closer – although not quite within range for attack. His face is twisted with worry, crown askew and hair falling out of its topknot to hang in his eyes. He looks stupidly like the boy she fell in love with. It just makes her want to kill him more.

"Yes," she grunts out. Katara's voice is a constant susurration of guidance and encouragement, as much as Mai is trying to block it out; Katara seems thrilled at the progress she is making. She tries to ignore the labor of _labor_, instead focusing her glare at her husband. "A divorce."

Zuko pales, sending a terrified look over to Katara. He was the one who demanded her presence, out of his damnable overprotectiveness, and that is yet another thing Mai currently hates about him. Katara swoops in to lean over Mai. Her hair is impeccable, up in those stupid Water Tribe loops, and she looks as beautiful as she is compassionate.

"Mai, you don't mean that," she says. "Just wait until after the baby is born before making any rash decisions…"

"It's not rash. The Fire Lord has an heir. The Fire Nation is stable. There's no need for this to _ever_ happen again!" Mai shouts. She squeezes her eyes shut, clinging to Katara's hand for all that its worth as she gives the final pushes. There is the sound of the other midwives hustling about, some squishy, fleshy sounds that she will spend the rest of her life repressing, and then a cry that splits the air.

Mai collapses backward on the bed, blinking up wearily. Zuko comes to sit at her side, bearing their tiny son in his arms.

"He's as beautiful as you are," he says. Mai frowns, taking a good hard look at the little face swaddled between the blankets. Her son's face is red and puckered and if it inherited anyone's beauty, it inherited Zuko's – from one side, anyway. But she supposes wives generally like to be told they are pretty so she doesn't protest. Somewhat nervously, Zuko continues, "You didn't mean what you said before, right?"

"Shouldn't we be naming him?" she asks, waving that question away for later.

They do the ceremonies and augers check the signs for the child, and together Mai and Zuko present the boy to the Fire Sages as Prince Zunyan. Mai lets the matter of divorce settle, caught between exhaustion and exhilaration as she cares for their newborn son. Later, months later, as a wet nurse feeds Zunyan, Mai walks a path in the garden with her husband. She looks up at him, taking the measure of the man he has grown to be. It has been years since the end of the war, years since their wedding day, and she does still love him. She's actually irritated with herself for what she said on the day of Zunyan's birth.

It wasn't well thought out at all.

"You need a new wife," she tells Zuko bluntly when he bends down to feed the turtleducks. Despite his grace and prowess as a warrior, her words startle him and, wheeling his arms for balance, he pitches face first into the pond.

Horrified and soaked, he asks plaintively, "_What_? Mai, was it something I did?"

Well, it was, but that also wasn't precisely his fault. She was involved as well.

"Just shut up," she says, holding up a hand to forestall his whining. "I'm not divorcing you. I still sort of love you, even though you're a dork. Or because of that. But I'm just not going to do this again."

"Do what?"

"Have a kid. Not again. But it'd be better for the Fire Nation if you had another child. So you'll have to get married again," she explains. He could take concubines, of course, but the legitimacy of the children might be questioned and she's already seeing steam rise off the pond, so she doesn't think Zuko could handle that suggestion. Trying to calm him – well, sort of – she adds, "It's not like it's unprecedented for a Fire Lord to have more than one Lady."

"Mai," Zuko says fiercely as he stands. "I don't _want_ anyone but you!"

"Tough."

* * *

The Fire Lady has a host of duties, most of them ceremonial in nature. A few are bureaucratic. Despite Mai's early efforts, she is the chair of the Reconstruction and Reparations Committee. It meets weekly to listen to claims, foster reconciliation, and generally make her want to stab a knife through her own temple. She has managed to whittle her own duties down to casting the tie breaking vote, which is nice because it allows her to ignore the hue and cry around her and then fix whatever the ministers managed to screw up. Additionally, it gives her time to make lists.

And thereupon, to write invitations.

It is by extreme convenience that one of the invitees attends a Committee meeting. Something about a tea shop, or a cabbage stand, or something. Mai mostly tunes it out, up until the point when she looks up and realizes that she has found another perfectly viable candidate. The girl – Jin, Mai remembers because her mother taught her well – is pretty, even tempered, and knew how to handle Zuko quite well back in Ba Sing Se. Mai sits up straighter and a hush falls over the committee member. She motions to the girl.

"Claim granted," she pronounces. There is murmuring to her right – Minister Tai Gui Le hates parting with any money at all – but the committee does not protest. They could always use more goodwill in Ba Sing Se.

Along with a variety of official papers that bear the Fire Lady's seal, she includes the invitation. Jin looks baffled when she notices it in the stack, giving Mai a questioning look, but she does have the good grace not to open it right then and there. Mai's wording may have been a little… blunt. Hearing the committee react would certainly spice up the meeting, though.

The convenience extends rather further than the Committee meeting; the invitation is for the gathering Mai has planned that very evening. In the halls, while walking languorously to the Royal Spa, Mai notes that Jin is still nervously hanging around. She clutches the invitation in one hand, placing her palm above her fist as she bows deeply to Mai.

"Hello… Your Majesty," Jin begins before stumbling to a halt. A faint blush touches her cheeks. It's obvious that she has no idea how to continue without being horribly rude. That's okay. Mai has little patience for courtly propriety anyway.

Sighing, she gestures brusquely to Jin, continuing to walk to the spa. Jin keeps pace beside her.

"You want to ask about the party," Mai says bluntly. She watches the other woman from the corner of her eye; Jin nods, and Mai adds, "You can come with me to the spa. I'm sure we have something in your size."

Jin opens her mouth once before clicking it shut. She tries again, "That is so gracious of you, Your Majesty, but…"

Mai walks slightly quicker, and then they are there. Attendants swarm. Jin's protests are lost to the frenzy of activity. After some time, Mai relaxes into the haircombing pool while a servant massages her feet. She insisted that Zuko hired a skilled masseuse during her pregnancy, and she has no intention of ever letting him go. On the other side of the spa, Jin happily allows servants to paint her nails while her hair is styled. Mai reconsiders her position during that time. She had thought it would be difficult to find a wife for Zuko, but suddenly it seems there is a frontrunner.

Now all she has to do is get Zuko to agree.

* * *

The grand ballroom is redolent with the light, floral scents of courtly life. Since the end of the war, preference has arisen for delicacy and softness. While before courtiers wore armor and painted their faces with imitations of battle scars, now they wear airy silken robes and paste little bits of pearl to their foreheads. Mai cannot but hate every single bit of current fashion, but she assiduously follows it for this event. This is not a moment for political posturing, nor for chastising the indolent rich. Best to lull them into compliance in this instance.

Jin, she has to admit, looks quite pretty in her green silks with the small flame-shaped cut-outs of antler stuck to her forehead. Mai herself didn't bother to inspect her reflection before leaving, while Zuko has no interest in following the fashion at all. He is in his robes of state, Fire Crown standing straight from his topknot. At least one of the servants in the spa did get to him, however, because there is the faintest hint of a golden blush across his cheekbones. Mai has to suppress a smirk at the sight.

She mingles among the assembled noblewomen for some time. Most of them she knows by name, if not on sight, for her mother's training was nothing if not thorough. She idly questions them, taking note of hobbies and irritating quirks, dismissing them one by one. It is a frustratingly quick process. Eventually, she finds herself in the company of more familiar faces.

Katara raises her glasses cheerfully to Mai. She is decked out in Fire Nation finery, although her mother's necklace still hangs around her neck. The current make up trend suits her, Mai notes sourly.

"Great party!" she enthuses. "But you never did mention what it was for."

Next to her, Ty Lee and Suki shift, casting each other awkward looks. Mai didn't mince any words with either of them, but she wasn't so uninhibited with Katara. Toph snorts loudly, scoffing at Katara's naiveté. She has grown up in the sense of getting older – not so much in the height department – and Mai looks down quite a ways to measure her expression.

"You didn't get the memo, Sugarqueen?" Toph asks. She has a broad, somewhat mean smirk on her face as she nods toward Mai. "She's wife shopping for Zuko."

Sputtering, Katara throws a shocked look at Mai who shrugs indifferently.

"_What_?" she squeaks. "Did something happen? Are you two getting divorced? I'll kill him!"

Mai rolls her eyes.

"Nothing happened – except Zunyan. We're not, and I'd rather you didn't. The political structure here can only take so much."

"But then…"

"Fire Lords can have two wives, you know," Mai says, sighing at length. How many times does she have to explain this?

But Katara's attention is no longer on her. Instead, it is on her companions, whom she eyes with suspicion and no small amount of anger.

"You _knew_?"

"Yep," Toph says, popping her lips on the word.

She wouldn't actually be such a bad choice, Mai considers. She can appreciate Toph's sincere lack of _giving a shit_ for most matters. Not a good choice for the politics, of course, but good insofar as Mai would enjoy her company. Toph would be helpful in controlling Zuko's sulks, too.

Ty Lee shrugs at the question, but it is Suki that Katara is pinning with a look. Suki offers a half hearted smile, mumbling, "I was just curious."

Katara chokes off an enraged sound, gearing up to give a blistering tirade on the subject of fidelity – particularly to her brother – and probably about the immoral nature of polygamy in general. Mai isn't interesting enough to stay to hear the details. While she does care for Katara, her inclusion on the guest list was mostly perfunctory. Zuko could always use another healer around, given his propensity toward disaster as well as the constant assassination threat. But even that wouldn't be enough to make Mai weather Katara's constant company, or the Avatar's wrath. In any case, her reaction to the true nature of the ball was fairly entertaining.

While making the rounds on the ballroom floor once more, Mai notices a woman she most definitely did _not_ invite. She narrows her eyes at the woman, trying to place her. The woman moves with grace, but not that of a courtier. Her long, black hair hides one of her eyes nearly constantly, making it hard to get a good look at her face. Mai snickers to herself – that fashion alone would put her and Zuko in good company.

Sidling over to her husband, she elbows him in the side.

"I thought you weren't interested," she says quietly.

Without even asking, Zuko knows exactly what she means. He blushes slightly, and then grimaces.

"I didn't think you'd notice…"

It's adorable when he thinks he's subtle. For all that his honor, sincerity, and candor have made him a successful negotiator abroad, he is still out of his depth in the royal court. There's a reason Mai takes care of domestic politics herself.

"Who is she?" she asks, right before it hits her. Mai's eyes widen and a laugh bubbles up in her. "You invited _June_ the bounty hunter?"

"Yes. I did," he says stridently. Mai fights a smile, looking at him. She remembers hiring June to hunt down War Minister Qin and other criminals. She remembers the leather and the whip.

"And you think she'll _marry_ you and agree to let you knock her up?"

Zuko deflates instantly. He clearly hadn't been thinking along those lines. Again, Mai suspected his thoughts had been _leather_ and _whip_. She leans up, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"I'm sure we can find something in the armory," she whispers. Or possibly his parents' old bedroom. But Mai doesn't say that, because she values the hall not being on fire at the moment. She will check their room, though. Fewer questions.

In the meantime, she feels it is time for this evening to bear some fruit. She snags Jin's arm as the other woman passes by, unceremoniously shoving her over to Zuko. He catches her and Jin leans against his broad chest for a moment, her breathing audible even to Mai as she stares up at him.

"Get reacquainted," she tells them both. She's going to go get herself a drink.

* * *

That evening, Mai does procure a whip and, under a small amount of duress, Zuko admits that Jin will do fine. They are married within the month, and a new princess greets the Fire Nation in just under a year. Mai finds that she enjoys pregnancy much more this time around, when it's not her own. In fact, there are only two things she loves as much as the Prince Zunyan and young Princess Xuan – Zuko and Jin.


End file.
